1. Who we are and scope of this policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Hongkikim Foundation collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when you visit this website, contact the hall desk, apply for a funded place, reserve a study seat, join a mentor pairing, sit an exam through an exam prep circle, request books through a book fund round, attend a graduation coaching day, volunteer as a mentor or support the foundation as a donor.
The foundation operates a learning access hall at 1790 W 3500 S Ste 1790-A, West Valley - 84119-3434, United States (US). This policy is issued by Hongkikim Foundation and applies to the website at https://www.hongkikim.buzz and to the hall services described on the services page. The developer name Hongkikim appears in this introduction so that readers can connect the technical stewardship of the website with the published record of the foundation.
We wrote this policy in plain English because the people who use the hall are not lawyers. Where a term of art is unavoidable we explain it in the same paragraph. If any part of this policy is unclear, the desk will explain it on request and will not treat a question as a complaint.
This policy does not cover the practices of schools, testing centers, bookstores, payment networks or other organizations that we fund on your behalf. Those organizations publish their own privacy notices, and the desk can point you to the relevant notice when a service involves a partner whose systems we do not control.
1790 W 3500 S Ste 1790-A
West Valley - 84119-3434
United States (US)
2. Information we collect
We collect information in four broad groups: information you give us directly, information created as you use hall services, information collected automatically when you use the website, and information we receive from partners with your permission.
Information you give us directly includes your name, email address, postal address, telephone number, date of birth where a program requires it, the course or credential you wish to complete, the institution or testing center involved, your study availability, and the free text you write in the contact form or in desk paperwork. When a funded place is approved we also record the budget you and the clerk build together, which may include tuition amounts, exam fees, book titles, equipment needs and a transit stipend.
Information created as you use hall services includes attendance at study hall reservations, mentor pairing notes, exam prep circle attendance, book fund round submissions, graduation coaching records and completion confirmations. These records exist so that the desk can release funding in the right order and so that a learner who pauses for a season can return without starting over.
Information collected automatically includes the pages you view on this website, the approximate region from which a request arrives, the browser and device type used, the referring page and the time of the request. The website does not require an account and does not store a persistent profile of visitors in a browser database.
Information received from partners may include enrollment confirmations from a school, exam registration confirmations from a testing center, book order confirmations from a seller and accommodation approvals from an access office. We request only the minimum confirmation needed to release funds and we do not ask partners for your grades, disciplinary records or medical records.
3. How we collect information
Most information reaches us through a conversation. A learner signs the register at the desk, a clerk records the answers to four intake questions, and the budget is drafted in the same session. We prefer that route because a written plan built in conversation tends to be more accurate than a long online form filled out in a hurry.
Some information arrives through the contact form on this website. The contact form in its default configuration does not transmit data to a server under our control. It assembles a message in your own email client and sends that message to access@hongkikim.buzz, which means the message travels through your email provider and ours in the ordinary way. If you prefer not to use the form, you may write to the same address directly or telephone +12679865299 during staffed hours.
We also collect information through attendance sheets, mentor notes, reservation logs and book fund submission records kept in the hall. These records are kept on paper and in a limited digital register, and access to the register is restricted to staff whose work requires it.
Automatic technical information is generated by the web server that delivers this website. We review aggregate request logs to understand which pages are visited and to detect abusive traffic. We do not attempt to identify individual visitors from those logs unless a security incident requires it.
4. Why we use information
We use personal information to decide whether a learner is eligible for a funded place, to build a term budget that matches the learner situation, to release funds in scheduled instalments, to reserve a study seat for the term, to pair a learner with a mentor, to register an exam and pay the exam fee, to order books through a book fund round and to support a learner through graduation and the first months after completion.
We also use information to communicate with you about your own record. That includes confirming an appointment, reminding you of a reservation, explaining a funding decision, asking about two missed study blocks and following up after a coaching day. These communications are part of the service rather than marketing.
We use information to keep the hall safe and honest. Attendance records protect a reserved seat from being held by someone who has stopped attending. Mentor notes help a substitute mentor continue a pairing without beginning from nothing. Book fund records let the desk check that a title matches the syllabus and let donors see which categories were funded.
We use aggregate and de identified information to report to donors, to describe the work of the foundation in public materials and to improve the design of hall services. Aggregate reporting never identifies a learner by name, and we suppress any category in which the number of learners is small enough that identification would be possible.
We use technical information to keep the website available, to diagnose faults and to defend against automated abuse. We do not sell advertising and we do not build advertising profiles.
5. Lawful basis for processing
Where data protection law requires a lawful basis, we rely on the following grounds. We process information to take steps at your request before entering into a funding arrangement and to perform that arrangement once it exists. We process information to comply with legal obligations that apply to a charitable organization, including record keeping for financial audit and reporting.
We rely on legitimate interests for the ordinary running of the hall: maintaining the register, protecting a reserved seat, defending the website against abuse and reporting aggregate outcomes to supporters. Where we rely on legitimate interests we balance those interests against your rights and we limit the data used to what the purpose requires.
We rely on consent for any optional communication that is not part of the service, for the use of a mentor note in a public testimonial and for the publication of any learner story. You may withdraw consent at any time and withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before the withdrawal.
Where information falls into a special category, such as an accommodation request that touches on health, we process it only on the basis of your explicit consent or as necessary to provide the accommodation you requested, and we limit access to the smallest number of staff who need it.
7. Service providers and processors
We use a small number of service providers to run the website and the digital register. A provider that processes personal information on our behalf does so under a written agreement that limits use to our instructions, requires appropriate security and prohibits onward disclosure except as the agreement allows.
Website hosting and content delivery are handled by a provider that stores static files and serves them to visitors. The contact form is processed locally in the browser, so no form contents pass through the hosting provider. Email is handled by the provider that operates the access@hongkikim.buzz mailbox, and telephone service is handled by the carrier that operates the published number.
The digital register used by the desk is hosted on infrastructure that restricts access by account and by role. Only clerks and the foundation director hold accounts that can edit a learner record, and every edit leaves a timestamp. Mentors never receive an account on the register; they submit notes through the desk.
We review our providers before onboarding and at least once a year. When a provider no longer meets our requirements we move the relevant data to a replacement and delete it from the former provider, subject to any legal retention obligation that applies to the foundation.
9. How long we keep information
Contact messages are kept for two years from the last exchange so that a clerk can pick up a conversation that paused. Messages that do not lead to a funded place are deleted at the end of that period unless a legal obligation requires them to be held longer.
Learner records are kept for seven years after the end of the last funded term. That period matches the record keeping expectation for a charitable organization receiving institutional funding and lets the desk respond to a request for a completion confirmation long after a credential was issued.
Study hall reservation logs and exam prep circle attendance sheets are kept for three years, after which they are aggregated into term level summaries and the individual rows are destroyed. Mentor pairing notes are kept for the duration of the pairing plus two years.
Donor records are kept for seven years to satisfy financial reporting obligations. Aggregate reporting that contains no personal information may be kept indefinitely because it no longer relates to an identifiable person.
When a retention period ends we delete the record or render it permanently unreadable. If a record is subject to a legal hold, deletion is suspended until the hold is released, and access to the held record is restricted to the staff handling the matter.
10. How we protect information
Access to learner records is limited by role. Clerks can see the records they work with, the director can see all records and mentors see only the pairing note they submitted. Accounts use strong passwords and are removed on the day a person stops working with the hall.
Paper records, including signed intake sheets and attendance logs, are stored in a locked cabinet in the hall office. The cabinet is opened only during staffed hours, and the office is locked outside those hours. Digital backups of the register are encrypted and are stored with the same access restrictions as the live register.
The website is served over an encrypted connection. No payment is processed on this website, and no bank details are requested through the contact form. If you receive a message that appears to come from the foundation and asks for a payment, bank details or a password, do not respond and report it to access@hongkikim.buzz immediately.
If a security incident affects personal information, we will investigate promptly, contain the incident and notify affected individuals and any relevant authority where the law requires notification. We keep an incident log so that patterns can be reviewed and controls improved.
11. Your privacy rights
You may ask us to confirm whether we hold personal information about you and to provide a copy of that information. You may ask us to correct information that is inaccurate and to complete information that is incomplete. You may ask us to delete information that we no longer have a lawful reason to keep.
You may ask us to restrict the processing of your information while a correction is being reviewed, and you may object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests. You may withdraw consent for optional processing at any time, and you may ask for the information you provided to be delivered in a common electronic format.
To exercise a right, write to access@hongkikim.buzz with enough detail for the desk to locate your record. We may ask for identity verification before releasing information, because releasing a learner record to the wrong person would itself be a privacy failure. We answer a request within thirty days and we tell you if we need more time and why.
The hall does not charge a fee for a first request. If a request is clearly excessive, for example a repeated request for the same material within a short period, we may charge a reasonable administrative fee or decline the request, and we will explain the reason in writing.
If we decline a request in whole or in part we will explain the legal basis for the decision and tell you how to complain. Exercising a privacy right will never affect your access to hall services.
12. Privacy for children and minors
The hall is designed for adult learners. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under thirteen through this website, and the contact form is not intended for use by a child. If a parent or guardian believes that a child has submitted information through the website, the parent or guardian may ask the desk to delete it and we will do so promptly.
A learner who is sixteen or seventeen may be admitted to a program with the written consent of a parent or guardian. In that situation the desk records the consent, limits the information collected to what the program requires and reviews the record with the guardian at the end of each term.
Mentors are screened before a pairing. A mentor never holds a one to one office hour alone with a minor in the hall, and any pairing that involves a minor takes place in the reading room during staffed hours or on video with a guardian present.
If you are a young person reading this policy because you are considering a program, you are welcome to ask the desk any question about how your information would be handled. The desk will answer in plain language and will involve a guardian if you ask.
13. Financial aid records and confidentiality
A funded place rests on a budget that a learner and a clerk build together. That budget is personal financial information and is treated as confidential. Staff discuss a budget with a learner and, where the learner asks, with an adviser of the learner choosing. Staff do not discuss one learner budget with another learner.
The foundation never publishes a learner financial record. Public reporting shows totals and categories only, and any category with a small number of learners is merged into a broader category before publication so that a figure cannot be traced back to a person.
A learner may ask to see the funding record at any time. The clerk will print the record or show it on screen during a desk visit and will explain each instalment. Disagreements about a record are resolved at the desk before any further release of funds.
Where a grant agreement with an institutional partner requires an accounting report, we provide aggregate figures and confirmations of enrollment without disclosing the learner budget line by line. If a partner insists on more detail than this policy allows, the desk will tell the learner before the information is shared.
14. Mentor and volunteer records
A person who applies to volunteer as a mentor provides a name, contact details, a short account of professional background and the references the foundation requires for screening. We use that information to assess suitability, to complete screening and to match the volunteer with a learner.
Mentor screening records are kept separately from learner records and are available only to the director and the staff member who runs the volunteer program. A mentor may ask to see the screening file that concerns them and may ask for factual errors to be corrected.
Volunteer contact details are never shared with a learner beyond the contact method the mentor chooses to publish. Mentor notes about a pairing are written for the desk and are not passed to a future employer, an institution or any outside party.
When a volunteer role ends, screening records are kept for three years to answer any later safeguarding question and are then deleted. Volunteers may request a reference letter, and a reference letter describes service and conduct only; it does not describe any learner.
15. Donor and supporter information
A donor who supports the foundation provides a name, contact details and payment information. Payment information is handled by the payment provider and the foundation does not store card numbers in its own systems. We keep a record of the gift amount, the date, the designated purpose and any acknowledgment that was issued.
We publish donor names only where the donor has given written permission. A donor who prefers to remain anonymous is listed as an anonymous supporter, and we honor that preference in every public document including annual summaries.
A donor may ask to be removed from the mailing list at any time. Removal from the mailing list does not remove the financial record of a gift, which the foundation must keep for audit and reporting purposes.
We do not sell, rent or exchange a donor list. We do not run a wealth screening process on donors and we do not purchase third party data to enrich a donor record. Any solicitation the foundation makes is based on a prior relationship or a direct expression of interest.
16. Data stored in other regions
The hall operates in the United States, and our primary records are kept in the United States. Some service providers that host the website or operate email may process information in another country. Where that happens we require the provider to apply protections that are at least equivalent to those described in this policy.
If you contact the desk from outside the United States, your message will be processed in the United States. By sending a message you understand that the information will be handled under this policy and under the laws that apply to the foundation in the United States.
Where a transfer mechanism is required by law, we rely on a recognized contractual mechanism with the provider. A copy of the relevant terms can be requested from the desk and we will explain the mechanism in plain language before you send any information.
We do not use a provider that requires us to hand over learner records on demand without a lawful process. If such a demand were received, the foundation would seek legal advice and would notify the affected learner where the law permits notification.
17. Links to other organizations
This website and the desk correspondence may point to schools, testing centers, bookstores, licensing bodies and public resources. Those destinations are operated by other organizations and this policy does not apply to them. We link to a resource because it is useful, not because we control it.
Before you submit information to a linked organization, read its privacy notice. A testing center, for example, will collect identity documents that the foundation never sees. A bookstore will collect a delivery address that the foundation does not provide on your behalf.
If you believe a link on this website points to an unsuitable destination, report it to access@hongkikim.buzz. The desk reviews every report and removes a link when the destination no longer matches the purpose of the hall.
A link to another organization does not mean that the organization endorses the foundation or that the foundation endorses every practice of the organization. Endorsements, when they exist, are stated in writing on the services page.
18. Communications and marketing choices
Most messages from the hall concern your own record: an appointment confirmation, a reservation reminder, a funding decision, a missed session follow up or a coaching day invitation. These messages are part of the service and are sent for as long as you hold a place in the hall.
Occasional messages that describe the work of the foundation, such as a book fund round announcement or a newsletter, are sent only to people who have asked to receive them. Every such message includes a way to stop receiving it, and a request to stop is honored within two business days.
We do not use a purchased mailing list, we do not run targeted advertising on social networks and we do not place a tracking pixel in an email. When a message links to this website, the link does not carry an individual identifier.
If you receive a message that looks like it comes from the foundation but does not match the style described above, treat it as suspicious. Report it to the desk and do not click any link it contains. We would rather answer a false alarm than miss a real one.
19. Automated decision making
Eligibility for a funded place is decided by a clerk after a conversation with the learner. We do not use an algorithm to score applicants and we do not use a credit score, a social media profile or a purchased dataset to decide who receives funding. A learner who is declined may ask for the reason in writing and may ask for the decision to be reviewed by the director.
The website itself does not profile visitors and does not personalize content. Every visitor sees the same pages, and the contact form behaves the same way for everyone.
We use simple automated checks to defend the website against abusive traffic, such as rate limiting a source that sends an unusual number of requests. Those checks act on technical signals and do not evaluate a person.
If the foundation ever introduces a tool that makes a decision affecting a learner without human review, we will describe it in this section before it is used, explain the logic in plain language and provide a route to request human review.
20. Changes to this policy
We review this policy at least once a year and whenever a service changes in a way that affects personal information. When we make a material change we update the effective date at the top of the page and describe the change in a short note at the end of this section.
A material change takes effect thirty days after it is posted, so that a learner has time to read it and ask questions. If a change would reduce a protection in a way that requires consent, we will ask for consent rather than relying on the posting.
A previous version of this policy is available from the desk on request. The desk keeps each version for seven years so that a learner can see the terms that applied at a particular time.
Continuing to use hall services after a change takes effect means that the updated policy applies, but it does not waive a right that the law grants you. This section does not limit any statutory right.
21. Complaints and supervisory authorities
If you believe that we have mishandled personal information, tell the desk first. Most concerns can be resolved in a conversation, and the desk will record the concern, investigate it and respond in writing within thirty days. The response will explain what was found and what action, if any, was taken.
If you are not satisfied with the response, you may ask the director to review the matter. The director reviews the record independently and issues a final written decision. That decision is kept with the complaint file for the retention period described in this policy.
You may also complain to a data protection authority in the place where you live or work. We will cooperate with a lawful investigation by an authority and will provide the records it requests, subject to any legal privilege that applies to advice we have received.
Making a complaint will never affect your access to a funded place, a reserved seat, a mentor pairing, an exam fee or a book fund round. The hall is not permitted to penalize a person for exercising a privacy right.
22. How to contact us
Write to the desk at access@hongkikim.buzz or telephone +12679865299 during staffed hours. The hall is at 1790 W 3500 S Ste 1790-A, West Valley - 84119-3434, United States (US), and visitors are welcome during desk hours without an appointment.
When you write about a privacy matter, include the email address or telephone number associated with your record and a short description of what you need. Do not include a social security number, a bank account number or a copy of an identity document in a first message. If identity verification is required, the desk will tell you how to provide it safely.
The foundation is the controller of the information described in this policy. Questions about this policy, requests to exercise a right and complaints about handling all go to the same address, and the desk routes each one to the person responsible for answering it.
Return to the hall homepage or read the Terms of Service for the rules that govern use of this website and the hall services.